Clutch release



S. 0. WHITE.

CLUTCH RELEASE. APPLICATION HLED JULY Iii/1 92!- Patented 0011.10, 1922..

150 3 @spectively outer andinner) faces with grooves in which the ba1lsy22 bearing run.

Patented met, if), T2222.

semi-Into; WHITE, or winners, INDIANA, ASSIGNQR To WARNER GEAR coivrranr, on i MUNOIE, INDIANA, A CORPORATION or alumnus: a

oLurorr RELEASE.

Application fiiedaul 1s,

To all whom it may concern: 1

Clutch Release,

Be it known that I, SAMU L WHITE, a citizen of, the United States, residing at Muncie, in the county ofDelaware and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful ofwhich the following is a specification.

1 It is the object of my invention to provide a clutch release having an annular ball bearingwhich is capable of taking the thrust of the clutchrelease, is self centering, has one member held against turning for avoid ing friction between it and the clutch-release yoke and for maintaining proper lubrication, has an effective lubricating arrange- Iinent which requires substantially no attention, and does not cause vibration ofthe' fclutch pedal.

i ,The accompanyingdrawing illustrates my invention! ig 1 partial section, f;

s a front elevation, in a clutch-release mechan sm constructedln accordance with my 1nventionij Eig -2is a vertical central section 1 [through such, clutch-release mechanism, and

25 a gc'lutch;

parts of-the neighboring transmission and and Fig.3 is.a fragmentaryfsection on the line of Fig. 1., c i a a j a ,1 While my device is applicable to any style of'transmissionfor clutch, T have shown it as one in which "the transmission is mounted forward in the automobile and in the same unit with the clutch; The clutch: is connectedtothe main gear of theitransmission 11 by the usual shaft 12, all being shown ,Iis :sprlngi-pressed to set position, by the faswithin a suitable housing 13L The clutch, j which may, be of any desired construction,

usualsprings 14, and maybe releasedby sliding axially, rearward the clutch-releasing sleeve 15, This axial rearward sliding of,

j the sleeve 15 is obtained, asusual, by a a; clutch-pedal 16. rtice,and myinvention resides in ing and arrangement of clutch pedal 16 acts on the sleeve 15. a d f? Concentric with the sleeve 15, is an annu-g actuates the sleeve.

All this is common practhe mount parts by which the larball bearing through which such pedal. a, This ball bearing comprises an inner ball-race 20 and an outer ball-race 21 providedon their adjacent (rea d p of the ball It is being found that this type of deep-groove ball bearings :is well adapted; to {taking considerable end thrust,

parts run true cal endsurfaces of two cal ined shaft @the carrier '25 lies.

1921. Serial lilo 485,443,

in additionto being able to carry radial load and to being self-centeringso that [its The inner race 20 is tight on the-sleeve 15 and at its rear end bears against, an axially facing shoulder on an outwardly projecting flange 24: on the rear end of such sleeve. ,Theouter race'21fits V tight within an annularfcarrier 25which at c or higher. The carrier 25,: with the outer ball-race 21 and-the segmental plate 27, is non -rot-z 1table,;v but it and its carriedparts are movable axially of shaft12.

To provide for this, the carrier 25 atits upper part has two laterally facing bosses or abutments in the plane of the carrier,- whichbosses have vertical plane surfaces for abutting against the correspondin ly vertis and 32, which are mounted in suitable bearings 33 above and transverse tothe shaft l2and between the ends of which the upper part of j The. shaft j 32 has fixed thereon the clutch pedal 16, so thatby the operation of such pedal the shaft 82: is turned through asmall angle. A yoke 34 overlies the. carrier 25 and is mounted on the adj cent ends of the shafts31 iandi32, being clamped: atleast to the shaft 82, and as shown being clamped-to both shafts, in any suitable manner, as by clampingscrews 35. The yoke a pair of downwardly and inwardly the bal1-race 21', and actuponboth such carrier and such alone.

ball-race, or upon either one In consequence, by depressing the clutch A ,pedal 16 the shaft ,32 andyoke 34 are turned in a counter clockwise direction as seen in F ig. 2, and the fingers 36 push the carrier 25 andthe outer ball-race 21 rearward in a I rectilinear -line,lthe bosses 30 sliding on the d parts back to normal. The outer ball-race drive.

sleeve 15 and as the carrier-25and the outer ball-race 21 move to the rear such ball-race acts through the balls 22 upon the inner ball-race 20 to force it and the sleeve 15 rearward to release the clutch. WVhen the clutch pedal is released, the springs 14 move the 21 is held from rotation by being clamped in place in the carrier 25 by the segmental plate 27, and the carrier 25 is prevented from rotation bythe action of the bosses and the ends of the shafts 31 and 32. By thus holding the parts 21 and 25 from rotation a better bearing action is obtained, and friction between the front edges of the parts 21 and 25 and the yoke fingers 36 is avoided. The rectilinear movement of the parts 21 and 25 described above is obtained without' any support for such parts other than that. provided by the mounting of the bearing as a whole on the sle'eve15, which has a rectilinea'r movement on'the shaft 12 by reason ofits sliding mounting thereon. I

In order to lubricate this bearing, the car- 7 rier 25 has alaterally projecting upwardly opening oil cup 40 which lies beneath: the

joint between the end of the shaft 31 and the abutting face-of a boss 30. As shown, the

carrier has two such oil cups 40, one on each "side, to make the same carrier suitable for cars with eithe'rfright-hand or left-hand The shaft 31 is provided with an axial hole 41 through it, and there is mounted in the outer end of this hole an oil cup 42, which supplies oil to the hole 451 so that'such oillubricates the abutting faces of the shaft '31 and boss 30 and drips from the inner end of the shaft 31 into the oil cup 40. In order to control the point of dripping,

theshaft 31 is provided near its inner end vents the oillfrom feeding back alon the outside surface of said shaft. The oil which drips off the inner end of the shaft 41 is I caught, by the cup-40 and fed therefrom througlran opening Minto an oil space 45 lying just outside the outer ball-race 21, and from this oil space the oil passes by a groove 46 provided in the inner face of the segmental plate 27 to theball space and oil pocket between the inner and outer ballrac'es 20 and 21, in which space the oil rises to the level of the top of the plate 27 or of the flange 26, which are at least as high as the middle of the lowermost ball. Thus as the balls move they pass through this pool taiiied.

I claim as my invention: 1. In a clutch-release mechanism, the

with a circumferential groove 43, which preof oil, and effective lubrication is maincoihbinaltion of a 'clutch actirating sleeve, an

annular thrust-taking ball bearing having inner and outer grooved ball-races and lilterposed. balls in such grooves, the inner ball-race being carried by and rotatable with said sleeve, :1 carrier mounted upon and carried by said outer ball-race, a stationary abutment, an abutment on said carrier for engaging said stationary abutment to prevent rotation of said carrier and outer ball race while permitting them to move axially and to be carried freely by said sleeve vthrough the medium of the balls and inner ball-race, and a yoke for acting axially on said outer ball-race, to move the ball bearing and sleeve axially, said carrier being provided in its lower part with an oil pocket the sides of which are snliieiently high so that the balls of the ball bearing pass through the oil in such pocket, means for supplying oil to the engaging faces of said abutments, and a cup on said carrier for catching oil which drips from said abutment faces feeding such oil to such oil pocket.

2. In a clutch'release mechanism, the combination of a clutch-actuating sleeve. an annular thrust-taking ball bearing having inner and outer grooved ball races and interposed balls in such grooves, the inner ball.-

race being carried by and rotatable with said sleeve, a carrier mounted upon and carried by said outer ball-race, two alincd shaftstransverse to the axis of said sleeve and having a. gap between them into which said carrier extends, a yoke carried by said shafts and having fingers for acting axially on said outer ball-race, means for turning one of said shafts and said yoke to move said outer hall-race and therethrough to move the inner ballrace and the sleeve, and an abuti'nent on said carrier for engaging the end of one of said shaft-s to prevent rotation of the carrier.

3. In a clutch-release mechanism, the combination of a cl1it-cliactuati1ig' sleeve, an annular thrust-taking ball bearing having inner and outer grooved ball-races and interposed balls in such grooves, the inner ball-race being carried by and rotatable with said sleeve, a carrier mounted upon and carried by said outer ball-race. two alined shafts transverse to the axis of said sleeve and having a gap between them into which said carrier extends, a yoke carried by said shafts and having fingers for acting axially on said outer ball-race, means for turning one of said shafts and said yoke to move said outer ball-race and therethrough to move the inner ball-race and the sleeve, and an abut 'n'ient on ,said carrier for engaging the end of one of said shafts to prevent rotation of the carrier, means for supplying oil through the shaft to the engaging faces of said abutment and shaft, and means for catchin the en which drips from said en aging :accs

and feeding it to said ball bearing 4:. In a clutch-release mechanism, the com bination of a clutch-actuating sleeve, an annular thrust-taking ball bearing having inner and outer grooved ball-races and interposed balls in such grooves, the inner ballrace being carried by and rotatable with said sleeve, a carrier mounted upon and carried by said outer ball-race, tWo alined shafts transverse to the axis of said sleeve and having a gap between them into which said carrier extends, a yoke carried by said shafts and having fingers for acting axially on said outer ball-race, means for turning one of said shafts and said yoke to move said outer ball-race and therethrough to move the inner ball-race and the sleeve, and abutments on said carrier for engaging the adj acent ends of said shafts to prevent rotation of the carrier.

5. In a'clutch-release mechanism, the combination of a clutchactuating sleeve, an annular thrust-taking ball bearing having inner and outer grooved ball-races and interposed balls in such grooves, the inner ballrace being carried by and rotatable with said sleeve, a carrier mounted upon and carried by said outer ball-race, two alined shafts transverse to the axis of said sleeve and having a gap between them into which said carrier extends, a yoke carried by said shafts and having fingers for acting axially on said outer ball-race, means for turning one of said shafts and said yoke to move said outer ball-race and therethrough to move the inner ball-race and the sleeve, and an abutment on said carrier for engaging the end of one of said shafts to prevent rotation of the carrier, means for supplying oil to the engaging faces of said abutment and shaft, and means for catching the oil which drips from said engaging faces and feeding it to said ball bearing.

In witness whereof, I, SAMUEL 9. WHITE, have hereunto set my hand at Muncie, Indiana, this fifteenth day of July, A. D. one

thousand nine hundred and twenty'one.

SAMUEL 0. WHITE. 

